Review: The House Behind the Cedars [TSS]

The House Behind the Cedars by Charles W. Chesnutt is a fictional account of two siblings- John and Rena- who set out to take from the world what it is not willing to give them.  John and Rena are of mixed race; their mother was a mix of many races, including African-American, and their father was white (but did not acknowledge them as being his children).  John grows up and is unwilling to accept that his fate is decided by a fraction of his ancestry.  He changes his name, goes to South Carolina, sets himself up as a lawyer, marries a white society woman and no one is ever the wiser as to his being Black.  When he returns to visit his mother several years later, he finds his younger sister Rena all grown up, with very Caucasian looks.  He decides to take her with him to conquer South Carolina society, both of them pulling off a dangerous game of passing for white in polite society. 

Rena is a success and falls in love with a young South Carolina gentleman.  But she worries about her deception and the possibility of her fiancee finding out her secret and hating her for it.  When her fears are realized, everyone's lives are changed forever.

Joint Musings: Dead Souls

Dead Souls, by Nikolai Gogol is one of the first Russian novels.  It centers on a man named Chichikov, who comes into a town, makes friends with the officials, and then visits the surrounding landowners, asking them somewhat incongruously if he can buy "souls" (serfs) from them- but only the dead ones.  By purchasing large numbers of people that he does not actually have to transport or care for, Chichikov hopes to cheat the census system and qualify as a landowner.

This is the general plot of the story, if it can be called that.  However, Gogol rarely sticks to the general plot, taking off on hilarious tangents of describing coachmen, ornery old women, tight-fisted landowners, self-important government workers and all sorts of people in between.  His narrator goes off on asides describing the scenery, obscene amounts of food, and making commentary on the state of Russia and the world.  The plot is not in any way central to the story.  It is there only as a vehicle to get across Gogol's other points.  And those are what make the book so funny, so fascinating to read.  So that you don't even mind that the story ends abruptly, or that Part II is comprised only of bits and fragments that do not fit together.  You just continue reading, hoping for another character to get skewered.

I read this book in a long-distance classics book club with my friend Sudha, who lives in St. Paul, MN.  We next plan to read The Tale of the Genji (the short version).  Below are our thoughts on Dead Souls.

With Reverent Hands: The Changeling Sea

 

I bring you with reverent hands / the books of my numberless dreams. 

-WB Yeats, "A Poet To His Beloved"

 

WB Yeats, I'm sure, gave books to his beloved that he valued highly himself, and that he handled with reverence.  If you had to recommend a book you revered to someone, what would it be?

I'm asking you to highlight one book.  One book that you adore, that you prize, that changed your life, that you would save from a burning building, that you found serendipitously on a library shelf or at a used bookstore, looking lonely and ignored.  A book that thrills you but that, you have come to realize, no one else has really ever heard of, much less read.  With Reverent Hands is all about those books- the ones that deserve a wider audience than they are given and that you want everyone to go out and read, even if they are out of print.

If you would like to participate in With Reverent Hands, please comment on this post and I will send you a template! 

This week's post is by Kiirstin who posts at a book a week.  Kiirstin reads across a variety of genres, always aiming to read at least one book each week.  I have seen excellent reviews on her site for many fantasy novels.  She also reviews a lot of Canadian authors that I never would have otherwise come across.  This is also somewhat random, but she has a very distinct gravatar of rainbow socks over which always makes me smile.  I'm pleased that she is participating in With Reverent Hands, and I encourage any fantasy fan (or fans of other genres!) to check out her excellent blog.  Here she is with her book recommendation- one I'm lucky enough to already have on my shelf to read!

What book are you highlighting?
The Changeling Sea, by Patricia A. McKillip

Review: Mornings in Jenin

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa follows a Palestinian family from just before WWII to 2002.  It centers around Amal, a girl born in the Jenin refugee camp in the 1960s and is profoundly affected by the Jewish attack on the camp in her childhood.  Her father never returns, her mother goes insane, and her brother joins the resistance movement.  Amal is sent to an orphanage for schooling and then is given the opportunity to attend college in the US.  She rejoins her brother and his family in Lebanon in the early 1980s and falls in love.  When war again seems imminent, a pregnant Amal leaves Lebanon for the US and her life, and the lives of all those close to her, are altered completely by what follows.  It is only decades later, when Amal returns to Jenin, that her life comes full circle and she has the chance to be at peace.

This book is very intense.  It makes no pretense at being a neutral novel.  Abulhawa is Palestinian and proud and she firmly believes the "inescapable truth that Palestinians paid the price for the Jewish holocaust.  Jews killed [her] mother's family because Germans had killed [theirs]."  However, I feel that the individual Jewish characters in this book are portrayed in a positive light.  Readers can sympathize with them.  As a group, however, of nameless soldiers and political leaders, they are presented very negatively.

Sunday Salon: How do you pick your next read?

One of my best friends came home to Chicago this past week, bringing with her a bundle of exciting (and massive) books for me to borrow and read.  I returned the favor, giving her two full bags of books to take back to St. Paul with her.

In addition to this exciting pile of fantasy and science fiction doorstoppers (seriously, the shortest one is over 650 pages.  I do not lie), I have books to read for the Classics Circuit, for the Spotlight Series, for review and (gasp!  Is it possible?!) for my own enjoyment, from my own collection.

So how do I pick the next book to read?  Previously, if I had a book that had to be reviewed by a certain date, I would freak out and read that book first and then just save the review.  I'm one of those people who always worries that if she tries to read and review the book on the day it's due, she will inevitably not be finished with it by then.  So before, I'd always read them really early and breathe a sigh of relief that I would be done in time.  Now, I cut the deadlines pretty close.  I have not yet even started my book for the Classics Circuit and it's "due" on the 28th.  Hey, I'm living on the edge!

So usually, if I have review books to read, and I'm in the right mood, then those are the books I'll pick to read next and review.  However, when I have more time free, then the options widen amazingly!  I have purposely accepted very few books for review lately so that I will have this freedom.  There are a lot of enticing books on my shelves and I want to read them.

With Reverent Hands: Love in the Present Tense

 

I bring you with reverent hands / the books of my numberless dreams. 

-WB Yeats, "A Poet To His Beloved"

 

WB Yeats, I'm sure, gave books to his beloved that he valued highly himself, and that he handled with reverence.  If you had to recommend a book you revered to someone, what would it be?

I'm asking you to highlight one book.  One book that you adore, that you prize, that changed your life, that you would save from a burning building, that you found serendipitously on a library shelf or at a used bookstore, looking lonely and ignored.  A book that thrills you but that, you have come to realize, no one else has really ever heard of, much less read.  With Reverent Hands is all about those books- the ones that deserve a wider audience than they are given and that you want everyone to go out and read, even if they are out of print.

If you would like to participate in With Reverent Hands, please comment on this post and I will send you a template! 
This week's guest post is by Leah at Amused by Books.  Leah is lucky enough to live in the fabulous city of San Francisco, where she spends much of her time reading a wonderful array of fiction.  She recently wrote a post about her Top Five Romantic Reads- you should go and check if you agree with her assessment!

Leah is also hosting a giveaway of the novel below on her blog, so if you just can't wait to snatch it up... head on over there for a chance to win!

What book are you highlighting?
Love in the Present Tense by Catherine Ryan Hyde

TSS: A Request and Random Ramblings

I have a lot of things I'd like to address generally on my blog, so instead of doing one of my usual Sunday Salon posts where I ask you a question and you answer, I'm just going to start typing all my thoughts out and see what happens!  Apologies if this is a very unintelligent post.

First things first.  Have you signed up to participate in the Spotlight Series?  It is a great vehicle (well, I helped create it so obviously I think it's great) to bring more attention to small publishers who bring us great books.  Are you someone who sometimes wonders, "How can I use my blog to do good in the world?  How can I use the network I've created to bring value to the masses?"  Well, the Spotlight Series is a way to do it!  Small presses often don't have the marketing money necessary to send out tons of review copies or advertise in Shelf Awareness.  The Spotlight Series is a way for you to help bring more attention to small publishers and help them succeed in their mission to bring readers eclectic, cutting edge works.  So go check out the catalog of our first featured publisher, Unbridled Books, see which books by them are stocked in your local library or bookstore, pick one to read and then get ready to review it between March 14-27.  It will be a karma point in your favor.

I must apologize if I normally comment on your blog and I haven't done so lately.  And also if I have been following your blog for some time and haven't commented yet.  Or if I have been commenting, but have said something really boring like, "Great review!  Thanks!"  Or "This looks really good!"  Or if you have commented on my blog and I have not responded to you.  Whew- so many apologies!  Google Reader, every time I visit it, defeats me.  It exhausts me.  I love all the blogs I follow, but it is humanly impossible to keep up with them and interact with the bloggers in the way I want to.  I am not sure what my method going forward will be for this.  I'm also worried that if someone comments on my blog and I don't go and comment on their blog that they'll think I'm being snobby and unapproachable and I get all paranoid and it's just a bad situation.  I hope no one thinks I'm unfriendly and if I have been very lax about keeping up my part of our bookish relationship, please let me know and I shall try to make amends as soon as possible!  Please don't just decide I'm too cool for school and wash your hands of me.  I'm not too cool for school.  I love school!

Someone who made no effort to be kind to me commented on one of my reviews recently.  He was snarky.  I know it's not just me who thinks this because Chris confirmed that he was rude and I think we all agree that Chris's word is final.  Personally, I don't understand why someone would take the time to visit a blog, read a review, write out a comment and then follow the comment thread just to be mean.  Whose mind works in this way?  Why not at least be polite?  I think I'm probably one of the last bloggers to have come across this situation.  I don't think I'm overly sensitive, but it really bothers me when people are mean just because.  How do you deal with The Case of the Snarky Commenter? 

I also don't understand the "fanboys" online that seem to troll the internet for negative reviews of books by authors they adore, and then basically just comment on blogs or Amazon to say they disagree with the review (usually in a rude manner and often as part of some weird online trolling team).  Why not just take the time to review the book yourself and say what you liked about it?

I love that the Vancouver Olympics opening ceremonies had such a huge focus on the First Nations and really involved the Aboriginal cultures in the ceremonies. I am not sure what status the First Nations have in Canada, but I have a feeling it's a much better one than they have in the US.  Good on Canada!

That's all.

Book Event: Stephen Benatar on the East Coast

I know I talk a great deal about Stephen Benatar and his book (yes, Wish Her Safe at Home).  But, well, here's one more thing.

He's coming to the US!  Sadly, Chicago is not one of the cities that he will be visiting on his short tour, but if you live in New York or Boston, then you can go see him and tell him on my behalf how amazing a writer he is.  From a quick search for his books on Amazon.co.uk, it looks like he often goes up to people in stores, book in hand, and tells them to buy his work.  Talk about marketing yourself!  That sounds like it could be very awkward, but from what it looks like on Amazon, those that bought his books liked them.  So I suppose he knows how to pick his readers.

If you happen to be in New York or Boston at the end of February and want a literary event to make you feel intellectual and high-brow, here are the details on where and when you can catch Benatar:

Monday, February 22, 2010

7:00pm - 9:00pm

McNally Jackson Bookstore

52 Prince Street

New York, NY

-------------------------

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

7:50pm - 9:00pm

Community Bookstore

143 Seventh Avenue

Brooklyn, NY

--------------------

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

7:00pm - 9:00pm

Harvard Bookstore

1256 Massachusetts Avenue

Cambridge, MA

Review: Page from a Tennessee Journal

Page From a Tennessee Journal is Francine Thomas Howard's first novel and one of the first books published by AmazonEncore.  While I have serious issues with Amazon as a book retailer, I am glad that the company is publishing books that previously had trouble finding a home.

Page From a Tennessee Journal revolves around four people, but its heart is the women- Annalaura Welles & Eula Mae McNaughton.  Eula Mae has been married to Alex McNaughton for over twenty years.  They have no children, a hole that she feels keenly.  She loves her husband, but there is no physical affection between them.  He hardly pays her any attention and she takes pride in anticipating all his needs and wants, so that he never has to ask her for anything and knows exactly what is on the schedule every day.  But Eula Mae sometimes wishes that she could be more intimate with her husband; she just doesn't know how to apprise him of that fact without him thinking her too forward or, worse, a hussy.

Annalaura is a sharecropper on Alexander McNaughton's farm.  Her husband, John, left some months ago without a word and now she is desperately trying to feed and clothe her four children on her own, with no money.  She doesn't think her husband will ever return, and she is terrified that McNaughton will turn her out of her home if she doesn't bring in a good tobacco harvest.  Sure enough, Alex McNaughton comes to check on her plot's progress, only to find it not performing up to par.  He finds Annalaura attractive, though.  Very much so.  And so he brings her food to feed her children in exchange for spending the night with her.  And then he keeps bringing gifts.  And keeps spending the night.

Meanwhile, John Welles is in Nashville making as much money as he possibly can so that he can get his family its own farm.  This is taking longer than he expects, though, and he is gone for well over a year.  When he returns and sees the state of his family, everything begins to unravel.  John and Alex must come to terms with their own feelings about their wives and their families, and Annalaura and Eula Mae must decide how to respond to a world that may very well turn on them.

With Reverent Hands: Magician, by Raymond E. Feist

 

I bring you with reverent hands / the books of my numberless dreams. 

-WB Yeats, "A Poet To His Beloved"

 

WB Yeats, I'm sure, gave books to his beloved that he valued highly himself, and that he handled with reverence.  If you had to recommend a book you revered to someone, what would it be?

I'm asking you to highlight one book.  One book that you adore, that you prize, that changed your life, that you would save from a burning building, that you found serendipitously on a library shelf or at a used bookstore, looking lonely and ignored.  A book that thrills you but that, you have come to realize, no one else has really ever heard of, much less read.  With Reverent Hands is all about those books- the ones that deserve a wider audience than they are given and that you want everyone to go out and read, even if they are out of print.

If you would like to participate in With Reverent Hands, please comment on this post and I will send you a template!

This week's guest blogger for With Reverent Hands is Blodeuedd who blogs at Bookgirl of Mur-y-Castell.  She's chosen a book that is fairly well known in the fantasy genre but that doesn't seem to be as loved as it deserves in the wider reader community.  Blodeuedd reads and reviews a wide variety of books on her blog, but has a true love for fantasy, so it was no surprise that she chose the below book to spotlight.  She writes really candid and honest reviews, which I love and appreciate, and I'm thrilled that she was the first to volunteer to participate in this series!  Thanks so much for highlighting a book you revere, Blodeuedd!

What book are you highlighting?
Magician, by Raymond E.Feist

Review: Black Hills & A Giveaway

Black Hills, by Dan Simmons, begins with Paha Sapa, a young Lakota boy, touching the body of the dying General George Custer at Little Big Horn.  In that moment, Custer's spirit enters Paha Sapa's body.  It doesn't leave for over sixty years.

Paha Sapa experiences this more than once with people.  He has Custer's spirit in his head, but he also can see the pasts and futures of many people he meets, including Crazy Horse.  During his initiation ceremony to become a man, Paha Sapa also experiences a terrible vision of the future; four large stone presidents of the United States careening across his beloved Black Hills, eating everything in their sight and leaving all behind them to waste.  Paha Sapa grows up as his Lakota family and the other native tribes of the Great Plains die out.  He comes to the decision that he must destroy these stone presidents before they destroy his land.  So he sets out on a plan to blow up Mt. Rushmore before the monument is complete.

I don't know how to review this book because my experience of it took me so far out of the story.  Paha Sapa is a wonderful character; he is so good and so kind and so aware of his culture disintegrating around him.  He is a complicated person who hates what the white settlers have done to his land but who also respects and admires their ingenuity and passion.  He is one of the most achingly lonely characters I have met in a very long time.  He is kind to everyone, but is set apart by his race and by the ghost in his mind and by other people's memories crowding out his own memories.  I fell in love with him and his quiet dignity.

Review: The Black Moth

The Black Moth is Georgette Heyer's first novel, written while she was a teenager.  She uses updated versions of some of the characters in her more popular novel These Old Shades (which is where the title These Old Shades comes from).  In mid-1700s in England, an earl has passed away, and his eldest son must be found to impart the news.  The son, Jack Carstares, however, was disgraced six years ago when he accepted blame that should have been his younger brother's for cheating at cards.  After years abroad, John is now "working" as a highwayman in Surrey.  His younger brother Richard has aged unnaturally since the cheating incident and is married to a temperamental beauty who is likely to bankrupt him and possibly leave him for another man.

And then there is the dangerous and enigmatic Duke of Andover (known as "the Devil") who is pulling all the strings (particularly those attached to the purse).  He falls so deeply in love with the lovely young Diana Beauleigh that he attempts a kidnapping, only to be foiled by Jack Carstares.  This sets off a chain of events that changes everyone's lives in dramatic (and thoroughly entertaining) ways until everyone is sorted out and settled to live happily ever after.

TSS: What's your fallback read?

  Last week, I was eagerly anticipating the arrival in my mailbox of the new Guy Gavriel Kay book, Under Heaven.  In it, Kay tackles Chinese history in what is sure to be a fantastical way.

As I eagerly waited for this book to arrive, I was faced with the quandary of deciding what to read in the meantime.  I didn't want to pick up a really big book that I would feel compelled to drop as soon as Under Heaven came to the door.  So there went all the doorstoppers patiently waiting for me to actually get the guts to pick them up.  I finally settled on a Lindsey Davis mystery and when I finished that, I went for a slim volume of essays on Jane Austen.

I realized that quite often, when I am in this "waiting" state in my reading, or when I just don't know what I want to read, I fall back to Lindsey Davis or Georgette Heyer.  I usually only read these authors at these moments because I know I'll be satisfied and happily settled into a world that makes me comfortable.  I also won't feel stressed out because the stories aren't overly long and aren't super-complicated.  They're light and fun and can almost always get me out of a reading slump.  And if I'm not in a slump, they're perfect for that "in-between" read while I anticipate another book coming to me.

What about you?  Do you have a fallback genre or author?  Ones that you can settle in with pretty quickly and know you'll enjoy when you're in between books or in a reading slump?  If so, what do you read?  If not, how do you pick an "in-between" book?

Review: Under Heaven

Guy Gavriel Kay's newest book, Under Heaven, is a fantasy novel set in an alternate 8th century China (called Kitai).  Tai is a young man who has just completed the required two years of mourning for his illustrious army general father.  Tai pays his respects by venturing to a far-off battlefield where tens of thousands of Kitan soldiers died while fighting the Tagurans.  He spends his two years burying these soldiers (from both sides) properly so that they can be at rest.

This earns him the gratitude of both the Kitan Emperor and the former Taguran enemies.  So much so that that the Taguran queen offers him 250 Sardian horses- the best horses ever and extremely valuable, particularly in a charged political climate- in gratitude for his service.  This gift is a curse as well, though, as it forces Tai to become an important player in a political game that is often over his head.

He must travel to Kitan's capital, Xinan, to determine what to do with his gift.  But all is not well there.  The aging emperor has cast aside his wife for a very young, beautiful concubine.  The first minister and the most favored general despise each other and could cripple the whole empire.  And Tai's sister, Li-Mei, has been sent as an imperial bride to the nomads by their politically connected ambitious older brother.  Tai must find a way to stay alive and do what he thinks is right in a world that is increasingly complex and full of gray areas.

With Reverent Hands: Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart

I bring you with reverent hands / the books of my numberless dreams.

-WB Yeats, "A Poet To His Beloved"

 

Rosie's Riveters ended last week, after a run of sharing with us 28 women- real & imagined- who impacted the way we see females in stories.  Rosie did an excellent job of highlighting well-written women, be they heroines or villains, and I am so glad that people participated in the series.

But now it's time to move on.  Instead of highlighting one particular character who stands out to you, I'm asking you to highlight one book.  One book that you adore, that you prize, that changed your life, that you would save from a burning building, that you found serendipitously on a library shelf or at a used bookstore, looking lonely and ignored.  A book that thrills you but that, you have come to realize, no one else has really ever heard of, much less read.  With Reverent Hands is all about those books- the ones that deserve a wider audience than they are given and that you want everyone to go out and read, even if they are out of print.

If you would like to participate in With Reverent Hands, please comment on this post and I will send you a template!

So here we go- my first offering for you all, that I bring with reverent hands!  And a huge thank you to Jason, who made the badge above!

What book are you highlighting?

Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart

When did you first read it?

 I had this book on my shelf for years.  I don't even know how I first heard about it.  I think on a Yahoo! groups somewhere.  And then everywhere I searched, it got amazing reviews.  So I finally took it with me on my trip to India last summer after Heather recommended it to me and it was amazing.   Luckily for me, there are two sequels that I hope to get my hands on!

What is it about?  Please give a brief summary.

It's a fantasy novel that takes place in "an ancient China that never was."  It revolves around a young man, Number Ten Ox, who must save the children in his village from a wasting disease, and so goes to the city to get help from Master Kao Li, a sage with "a slight flaw in his character."  The two go off to find an antidote to the disease, traveling all over China, meeting wonderful characters, learning lessons of faith, generosity and friendship, and then return triumphantly home.

The Spotlight Series is Here!!

Some time ago, Amy, Chris and I began chatting about how we can use our blogs to do good in the world of books (we're idealistic, I know).  We came up with the idea to start a Spotlight Series,.

On a rotating schedule, we will put the spotlight on a small press publisher that we feel sets a standard. We'll let you know the publisher several weeks (that's what I'm doing right now!) before the spotlight goes on so that you can browse the catalog and choose a book to read and review on your blog.

Then, over a two-week period, all participating bloggers will post their reviews of books by that publisher and word will spread from there!  Note that you do not have to be a blogger to participate in the Spotlight Series.  Anyone who wants to take part can, and if you want to write up a review of a bok and don't have a blog to post it on, we can put it on the Spotlight Series blog for you.

The Spotlight Series blog will serve as the HQ- it will have links to your reviews, information on the publisher, author and publisher interviews, contests, prizes and conversation.

Our first spotlight publisher is (drum roll, please)

UNBRIDLED BOOKS!  

Many bloggers are familiar with this publisher as it has lovely cover art on all its titles and publishes very popular books such as Cranioklepty, Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, and 31 Hours.  Last year was fantastic for Unbridled as so many of its books won recognition in print media and on blogosphere.

We are very excited to bring the spotlight to Unbridled Books and we hope that you will participate, too!  As this is a voluntary series, not done for profit, neither Unbridled nor the Spotlight Series will be able to provide you with copies of books to read.  Please look into libraries, bookstores, online outlets and friends to participate in the Spotlight Series!  We strongly believe that Unbridled Books publishes excellent works, and they are well worth the hunt to find.

The Spotlight on Unbridled Books will take place between March 14th and March 27th.  If you would like to participate and help bring attention to a fantastic publisher (and possibly discover one of your top reads of the year!), please sign up here.  Choose your book and we'll let you know in a few weeks when to post your review.  This is a great way to meet a lot of other bloggers and open up a relationship with an excellent publisher.  We hope to see you there!

You can also follow Spotlight Series on Twitter @spotlightsp.

And if you've already reviewed a book published by Unbridled, just link to it in the comments and we'll tweet about it :-)

Thanks again, everyone!

Review: A Truth Universally Acknowledged

A Truth Universally Acknowledged:  33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen, edited by Susannah Carson, is a book I had on my wish from the moment I heard it was being published.  Granted, I snatch up pretty much any non-fiction work about Jane Austen and the extended Regency period in England, but this sounded perfect for me.  If I were to go to a bookstore looking for the perfect gift for me, this would be very high on the list of qualifying books.

A Truth Universally Acknowledged needs no real summary because it's all right there in the very descriptive title.  It's 33 writers- all of them big fans of Jane Austen- talking about why they read her novels, over and over again.  Note that they are talking specifically about reading her novels.  They are not talking about reading other people's sequels to her books.  Not talking about reading Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.  Not talking about watching the many film adaptations.  No- they are talking about reading Jane herself, in all her subtle, ironic and hilarious glory.

Sounds great, right?  And it is!  Except when it's not.

Review: Saturnalia

Saturnalia is the 18th book in the Marcus Didius Falco mystery series by Lindsey Davis.  This one takes place during the Saturnalia festival in Rome, the Season of Misrule when slaves are kings and kings are (supposedly) servants.  Falco is called to the Palace and learns that a German priestess, Veleda, who previously fought against the Roman Empire was brought to Rome to be paraded through the city as a prisoner before being killed.  She was lost by her keepers several days prior to the Palace calling Falco in.  Falco is asked to help find her because he saw her years ago while on a mission in Germany.

Meanwhile, his brother-in-law Justinus has gone missing and everyone believes that he is off with Veleda, with whom he had an affair prior to his marriage.  Justinus's wife is angry, his in-laws are annoyed and his beloved wife Helena Justina is upset with her brother.  As if that isn't enough, Falco's hated enemy, Anacrites, is also on Veleda's trail.  And there are a few too many homeless people turning up dead in Rome's streets for Falco to be entirely happy.

Once again, Lindsey Davis delivers an entertaining mystery novel.  Those who know my reading tastes know that I thoroughly enjoy this series, and I'm a bit sad that I'm almost completely caught up with it!  I don't read many mystery series, but I love this one.  Marcus Didius Falco is such a hilarious wise-cracker and his family life always makes me smile.  It has been great fun seeing him develop from a lonely and scruffy informer in the first books of this series to a now middle-class family man who works for the Emperor.  I really look forward to seeing him grow more as a character.

However, life for most people gets less fun as the responsibilities pile on and that's no different for Marcus.  He doesn't do all the chasing and the flirting and the drinking that he used to, and generally doesn't get into as much trouble as he used to.  He now has to pause and consider not only his own well-being, but that of his wife, his children, his dog, his adopted daughter and his slaves.  That makes it hard to be a truly dashing character.  And while I love Marcus and Helena's relationship, and I love Helena's character in general, I still miss the Falco of old.

I don't think that, generally, the later books in this series are as good as the earlier ones.  But I still thoroughly enjoy immersing myself in an ancient Rome where the people speak in dry tones, tell inappropriate jokes and make irreverent comments about the state of the Roman empire and religion.  I don't know why, but I find it hilarious to imagine people using Latin in such casual ways.  I know it's silly, as it was a commonly-used language for centuries, but I still am thoroughly amused by it.

And I guess that's why I really love Davis's series.  She brings to mind all the dust, the dirt and the hypocrisy of Rome in the first century instead of the empire we remember in such reverential tones.  I love her for that and I love this series for being so comfortable in its Roman skin.